The Clueless Dude’s Guide To Buying Flowers For Valentine’s Day

It’s that time of year again gents. That single day of the year that determines how successful you’ve been at your job of boyfriend/fiancé/husband for the entire year. Sure, there was that amazing holiday you surprised her with, the uber-expensive birthday gift you splurged on, and the time you ordered a bottle of her favourite wine at dinner instead of that interesting looking craft beer. Oh! And that time you commented on her new haircut! That’s gotta be worth something, right? Nope, sorry mate. None of that means diddly if you forget about – or flat out refuse to take part in – Valentine’s Day.

So, whether you have a love/hate relationship with Valentine’s Day or are the most romantic guy around, the best way to ensure your special lady gives you top marks in the romance awards is to buy her flowers. Hands down. Chocolates used to be a thing, but these days they can be a pretty dangerous choice (and let’s be honest, you’ll probably end up eating them all anyway), so it’s best to stick with flowers. But buying the perfect flowers for your lady love can be overwhelming, especially for befuddled guys who can’t tell a daffodil from a doily (and for the record, NO to both).

To help you win this Valentine’s Day, we’ve put together our top tips for choosing the perfect flowers for your Valentine. And if all of this seems like a bit too much to compute, take heart. If you play your Hallmark card right then next year your fave gal might just spoil you with a V Day dinner at that all-the-meat-sweats-you-can-handle Argentinian BBQ, or even book you tickets to that comedian you’ve been not-so-subtly hinting at wanting to check out for months. Is that worth forking out on a bunch of flowers this Valentine’s Day?

They might be synonymous with Valentine’s day, but roses are not necessarily the flower variety that’s going to set your girl’s heart a-flutter. If you can determine which flower makes your Valentine swoon you are halfway to being done with your Valentine’s Day duties. All you need to do is head online or to your local flower market, search for the flower variety and BAM! V Day sorted.

Married guys you have a competitive advantage here; find a photo of your bride’s wedding bouquet and ask a florist/a friend/your mum what flowers are included. Chances are at least one of the flowers mixed in with her wedding bouquet made it to her top 5 all time favourite flowers list, and if not you can always say, “I loved these on our wedding day and I thought I would remind you how special that day was to me.” Bonus points right there. Not married? Hack her Pinterest account and find her ‘Favourite Flowers’ board. It’ll be there, trust me.

Find out what her favourite colour is AKA Red is not the only way

Done all the digging you can legally do and still unsure of her favourite flower variety? Not to worry, buying flowers in her favourite colour will get you the points too. And although you probably should know your love’s favourite colour offhand, if you don’t or can’t remember, don’t despair. This is one question you CAN just ask outright. It’s not a dead giveaway that you’re using this information to arm yourself for the flower market, and it will really help minimise the time you need to spend looking and making decisions when you actually hit the shops.

Flower Basics 101

There are some flower varieties that the ladies just luuuurve, so if you’ve done your research but are still unsure what flowers are your best bet this V Day, refer to this fail-proof list.

NB: Flowers are seasonal so not all of these will be available in your part of the world in time for Valentine’s. Make sure you have a few back up options. Also, most of these flower varieties come in multiple colours, so be sure to ask if your Valentine’s favourite flower AND colour are available for extra bonus points.

Felicity McNaught

Felicity is Tesselaar Flowers' digital sales manager. She's an ex-ballroom and latin dance instructor, current web, design, and copywriting boffin, and all-time plant and flower geek. If you need any help you can contact her via felicitym@tesselaars.com